"Whatever normal meant"
A pioneering dance group is proving that you can chase your dreams—even in a wheelchair.
Since the age of three, Chelsie Hill had dreamed of becoming a dancer. "The only thing that I loved was dance," she told CBS News. That ambition nearly ended one night in 2010. Hill, then a 17-year-old high school senior in Pacific Grove, California, was in a car accident that put her in the hospital for 51 days and left her paralyzed(瘫痪的) from the waist down. For most people, that would have ruined all the hope of dancing career. For Hill, it was the beginning. "I wanted to prove to my community—and to myself—that I was still 'normal'," she told Teen Vogue. "Whatever normal meant, it definitely took a lot of learning and patience."
After graduation, Hill wanted to expand her dance network to include women like her. She met people online who had suffered various spinal cord injuries but shared her determination, and she invited them to dance with her. Hoping to reach more people in a larger city, Hill moved to Los Angeles in 2014 and formed a team of dancers with disabilities she calls the "Rollettes". "I want to break down the stereotype of wheelchair users and show that dance is dance, whether you're walking or you're rolling," she told CBS News. So far, Hill has achieved her childhood dream. But the Rollettes have helped her find more. Every year she holds a dance camp for wheelchair users. She calls it the Rollettes Experience, and in 2019,173 participants from ten countries attended.
For many, it was the first time they'd felt they belonged. Edna Serrano, a member of the Rollettes, says "being part of the Rollettes team has given me the courage and confidence. It's so powerful to have my teammates in my life, because they're my teachers." The dancers aren't the only ones who feel inspired. One woman saw a YouTube video of the team competing and commented, "You guys are so awesome! I'm in tears because you rock! To be in a wheelchair and still be so beautiful makes me know I can be beautiful too! Thank you! Feel free to find me."
